A major problem for devices that launch soft foam projectiles, such as darts, relates to dart magazines, which load darts by using a biasing spring in the bottom of the magazine. A popular type of toy launch apparatus is an air gun that uses a magazine that locks into a breech in the gun and loads a soft foam dart when the shooter cocks the gun by drawing back and returning a bolt or cocking handle. However, in these types of guns, unlike guns that use real metal bullets or hard darts, the soft foam darts may compress or distort when pressed together with another dart or when packed against a hard surface. This can cause the soft foam darts to jam and prevent proper operation of the launch apparatus. Consequently, to prevent jamming in a soft dart gun, a chamber with a hard surface may replace the usual bolt to form around a dart that has been loaded in the launcher.
In the prior art of soft dart air guns using a magazine, the magazine surrounds the dart chamber so that the magazines may be removed and inserted only after an operator or user physically retracts the dart chamber. However, having to physically retract the dart chamber to remove an empty magazine or insert a loaded magazine provides a disadvantage during soft dart battles because the more time a user spends with an empty magazine or no magazine, the more time the user will be unable to defend against an attack.
The inventions discussed below in connection with the described embodiments address these and other deficiencies of the prior art. The features and advantages of the present inventions will be explained in or become apparent from the following summary and description of the preferred embodiments considered together with the accompanying drawings.